It's Friday evening and the start to our weekend. Yay, even better its a long weekend with the public Bank Holiday in the UK on Monday.
Later on this evening, we will be sipping white wine and snacking on some crackers with some homemade red Nut Cheese.
Nut cheeses are all the rage right now with vegans.
I first came across Nut cheeses in 1990s when I stumbled across publication by a little known vegetarian writer called Dave Dutton - I think the cookbook was The Green Revolution Cookbook, but I cannot remember for sure as he has a few publications. His vegan nut cheese recipe also contained soya flour which is not used often as it once was. However, the recipe I made was not based on his recipe, as I could not locate the book on my shelves.
The red in this vegan Nut cheese comes from smoked paprika. To give you an idea of how this red nut cheese sliced. I have served it on some red crackers. It was really good with umani undertones from the miso paste. I have also stirred in into a pasta salad for lunch.
I am not organised enough today cook something from a country on the other side of the world, so for Vegan Mofo prompt Far Away I share something that I associate with the vegan Western world - non dairy nut 'cheese' spread.
I have been wanting to make both a hard and soft spreadable vegan 'cheese' for a while. The first time I came across a vegan alternative for 'cheese' was in an old secondhand copy of a 1970s vegan paperback cookbook that I found a charity shop in Glasgow. This vegan cheese alternative was made with soy flour. I wanted t make it, but at the time I could not track down soy flour, then I forgot all about it (I must dig out the cookbook), but in the last 10 years there has been a rise of modern and contemporary versions are made with rejuvenac and probiotic capsules.
Today though, I am still keeping it basic or traditional as this is the first time I have made a spreadable vegan cashew 'cheese' spread. I did not want any hard to get ingredients like those mentioned above.
The recipe made quite a fair bit. I ended up with eight of these heart ramekins. I gave most of it away as I was not sure how long it would last. To make them different, I decided to douse smoked paprika and parsley over some of them.
The verdict by my vegan, vegetarian and omnivore Guinea pig colleagues was that it was really tasty. Some compared it to cottage cheese, some to goats cheese and some to hummus. They all enjoyed it and said they would be happy to have it on their plate with crackers.
Here is a link to 14 Vegan Cheeses including one from the awesome Maple Spice whom I discovered when I first started blogging in 2009 sadly due to illness she is taking time out from blogging. My version is adapted from In Vegetables We Truest and Olives for Dinner
This is probably not a recipe to showcase as its not presented int he best light, a little green salad and red tomatoes would have probably made it more enticing to the eye, but hey ho - sometimes a product has to stand on its own to make a name for itself.
This recipe is based on my Spanakopita recipe from my student days, but this time round I have decided to veganize it. I have substituted the salty feta cheese with nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is rich in vitamin B. It is a popular condiment for those who follow a vegan diet and is often used as a cheese alternative in cooking. I have used it in a number of recipes in the past. Anyway, whilst making the vegan spanakopita filling, I began reminiscing of holidays past in Cyprus. I remembered eating a vegetarian spanakopita from a Cypriot bakery that had been rolled up into a coil shape (see here) and it is for that reason that I decided to make individual portions of vegan spanakopita spirals, as I thought they would look more presentable on the plate.
You could easily make a larger version to feed a family or group of friends, then you must call it serpents coil as it sounds much more evocative. I know my version here looks a bit on the pale side, and it is. I put my hands up and admit that I forgot to gloss it over with some melted vegan margarine, that would definitely had made it golden. I will ensure I do so next time, still that did not detract from the flavour or crispness. I actually enjoyed it far more than the vegetarian feta cheese savoury version, the only thing missing from the dish was some green salad and red tomatoes!
You can enjoy these warm from the oven, or at room temperature. Just don't forget the salad!
